Show kindness whenever possible. Show it to the people in front of you, the people coming up behind you, and the people with whom you are running neck and neck. It will vastly improve the quality of your own life, the lives of others, and the state of the world.
Interpretation
Practicing kindness enhances the lives of others and improves your own life.
This quote emphasizes the importance of showing kindness to everyone you encounter, whether it's to those directly in front of you, those who may be in your future, or even your competitors. By doing so, not only do you enrich the lives of others, but you also elevate your own experience and contribute positively to the world around you.
In practice
In a speech about community service, one might say, 'As Ann Patchett wisely encourages, we should show kindness whenever possible to uplift our community.'
There was such an incredible logic to kissing, such a metal-to-magnet pull between two people that it was a wonder that they found the strength to prevent themselves from succumbing every second. Rightfully, the world should be a whirlpool of kissing into which we sank and never found the strength to rise up again.
It was too much work to remember things you might not have again, and so one by one they opened up their hands and let them go.
Why is it that we understand playing the cello will require work, but we attribute writing to the magic of inspiration?
Reading fiction not only develops our imagination and creativity, it gives us the skills to be alone. It gives us the ability to feel empathy for people we've never met, living lives we couldn't possibly experience for ourselves, because the book puts us inside the character's skin.
Write because you love the art and the discipline, not because you're looking to sell something.
Carmen prayed hard. She prayed while standing near the priest in hopes it would give her request extra credibility. What she prayed for was nothing. She prayed that God would look on them and see the beauty of their existence and leave them alone.
Always be a little kinder than necessary.
I'm going to be kind, because then it all just kind of spreads, and the world is a little nicer out there.
You cannot do a kindness too soon.
There is so much wretchedness in the world, that we may safely take the word of any mortal professing to need our assistance; and, even should we be deceived, still the good to ourselves resulting from a kind act is worth more than the trifle by which we purchase it.
A warm smile is the universal language of kindness.
God damn it, you've got to be kind.
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